County Hall has been accused of incompetence after it emerged a series of key decisions on multi-million pound transport schemes could have been made 'unlawfully', because of a blunder in how the projects were approved.
Officials have admitted that the Transport for Norwich Joint Committee has been following incorrect procedures in its meetings, leaving its decisions vulnerable to legal challenges.
Among a string of high-profile projects which were given the go-ahead on an invalid basis were the £6.1m revamp of St Stephens Street, the £330,000 alterations to Grapes Hill roundabout and the controversial bus lane in Cromer Road in Hellesdon.
Had any of those projects been subject to a legal challenge, County Hall could have found itself struggling to defend itself, with decisions potentially overruled and the schemes called into question.
That was because the Transport for Norwich Joint Committee - made up of county, city and district councillors - which voted for them, is only supposed to make recommendations, not take decisions.
Instead, Martin Wilby, the committee's chairman and the council's cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport, is meant to use 'delegated powers' to make the decision, based on the recommendations.
However, it emerged this week that until now, council officers had not been asking Mr Wilby to use his delegated powers.
Rather, the officials have been acting on the 'decisions' of the committee - which is not permitted under County Hall's constitution.
Emma Corlett, a Labour member of the committee, said the blunder - which is believed to have been involved in every decision made by the committee since it was set up in 2019 - raised serious questions about the way the council was run.
"'This calls into question the competence of the county council in spending pubic money. It's not a trivial matter to expect decisions to be made properly and when they aren't, there isn't a carpet big enough to sweep those errors under or to hide those responsible."
She added: "This has really damaged the reputation of the council and some of these schemes were controversial. Millions of pounds of public money was given to the council and it hasn't even managed to govern that properly within its own rules."
The mistake was only spotted this week after Ms Corlett 'called in' one of the committee's recent decisions, over proposed cycle lanes in Ipswich Road.
Matters then came to a head at a stormy meeting of the Joint Committee on Thursday, when the situation was outlined to members.
Ms Corlett and two other Labour councillors withdrew from the meeting, saying it was no appropriate to continue.
Katrina Hulatt, the council's head of legal services, had explained the committee was not - contrary to what its members had long believed - able to make decisions.
Ms Corlett refused to endorse the minutes of the previous meeting, which had made references to committee members "agreeing to recommend".
All previous committee minutes had said the committee "resolved to" and Ms Corlett said the latest minutes had been "retrofitted" and were not a true account.
She said: "They are completely at odds with what has been said, so I'm not prepared to participate on that basis with such a lack of clarity.
"I've never been treated like this as a councillor before. You can probably see how furious I am and I am not prepared to participate on those terms."
Ian Stutely, Labour city councillor also withdrew, saying he wanted independent legal advice and to speak to the city council's monitoring officer.
Fellow Labour city councillor Mike Stonard also withdrew and said, when the committee was formed, he and others believed they were to have decision-making powers.
But South Norfolk Conservative councillor Kay Mason Billig said none of the outcomes would have been any different and accused the protesting opposition of "navel-gazing".
From now on, all the committee's recommendations will be agreed under delegated powers by Mr Wilby.
None of the major projects previously 'agreed' by the committee were subject to a legal challenge and the council says that a three month window in which they could have been has now elapsed.
A county council spokesperson said: “The Transport for Norwich committee is an advisory committee and decisions are taken by the cabinet member.
“The voting mechanism is used to indicate the view of the committee – however, ultimately, the decision is one for the cabinet member."
He said all decisions would now be made under delegated powers - and published.
He added: "None of the decisions taken have been challenged and many have been implemented."
The Transport for Norwich meeting on Thursday continued without the Labour councillors - and without any vote from the Conservative councillors who remained.
Mr Wilby agreed, using delegated powers, to put plans for a £1.8m revamp of St Giles Street out for public consultation.
Which projects were 'agreed' when the committee had no power to do so?
The county council has yet to confirm over what period the process has been handled incorrectly.
But it is likely to have been since at least 2019, when the Transport for Norwich Joint Committee, previously the Joint Committee for Transforming Cities Fund, was created. Projects 'agreed' in that time include:
St Stephens Street
More than £6m is being spent to make major changes, including new 'sawtooth' bus bays, crossings and revamped bus shelters.
Grapes Hill roundabout
Work costing £330,000 has seen most of the traffic lights on the roundabout removed and changes made to roads.
Bus lanes in Cromer Road and Aylsham Road
Hundreds of people said they did not want a new bus lane on Cromer Road in Hellesdon. Conservative councillor Shelagh Gurney was among those against the scheme, but the committee voted for it to go ahead.
Thickthorn Park and Ride expansion
The committee agreed in November to lodge plans for a £2.8m extension for the site.
Norwich Bus Station
A £430,000 investment into the bus station, including improvements to pedestrians was agreed last summer.
South Park Avenue
Almost £500,000 was spent to widen South Park Avenue, near Eaton Park, so buses could pass more easily.
Norwich Railway Station
The committee voted to spend £2.5m to change the area around the city's railway station, including closing part of Thorpe Road.
Analysis
There's no doubt this is hugely embarrassing for officers at County Hall, but in some ways they are lucky.
They have been fortunate none of the big ticket schemes were subject to legal challenge.
Had they been, the council could have found itself in hot water, possibly struggling to argue its decision-making process was lawful.
Realistically, none of the actual decisions would have been any different.
But it does seem ridiculous none of the councillors on the committee had been made aware they were only voting for recommendations, not on actual decisions.
Reputationally, this is damaging for the authority. It took back responsibility for roads in Norwich from City Hall in controversial circumstances in 2020, to the chagrin of city councillors.
This fans the flames for their argument that County Hall was wrong to do so.
And Labour councillors have questioned what sort of message this sends to the government - a government which has entrusted the council with the proper spending of millions of pounds.
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